Jerome R. Loughridge Appointed Chief of Staff to the President

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. announced today the appointment of Jerome R. Loughridge as chief of staff to the president, effective Feb. 5.

A 1995 summa cum laude graduate of Baylor and formerly the acting director of field operations for Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, Loughridge will be responsible for managing the day¡to¡day operations and staff of the President's Office. He will serve as a senior adviser to the president on various issues and projects, as well as a liaison to Baylor's constituents, including the board of regents, faculty and staff, students, parents, administration and the community.

"I am pleased to have Jerome Loughridge as a part of Baylor's administrative team," Sloan said. "His experience in a role of this kind with Sen. Nickles, his knowledge of Baylor, his outstanding academic record and his personable manner all combine to make Jerome a great fit for Baylor in this position. I look forward to Jerome's arrival on campus."

A member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Mortar Board honor society, Loughridge was a University Scholar at Baylor, president of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce and co¡founder of the Baylor Leadership Council. In 1998 he earned his master's degree in public policy from Harvard University, where he was selected as Harvard's first Summer Fellow in Business and Government and served as director of the Harvard Summer Internship Fund.

In addition, Loughridge received the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and academic achievement and was chosen to serve on the 2001 Truman Scholar Selection Committee for the south central United States.

Loughridge's work experience includes serving from 1995¡96 as the first Foundation Fellow for the Children's Memorial Medical Center Foundation of Chicago; a consultant to Northwestern University's pediatric academic medical center during a $100 million fundraising campaign from 1997¡98; a graduate researcher in 1998 at Harvard's Center on Non¡profit Institutions; and an adjunct faculty member from 1999 to the present in the Tulsa Community College System, where he teaches American federal government and European history.

As Nickles' acting director of field operations, Loughridge oversaw a 27¡county area in eastern Oklahoma. He also has served as the first statewide policy liaison on the senator's staff in 20 years and represents the Majority Whip at meetings and appearances throughout Oklahoma.

An active community volunteer, Loughridge serves on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and the Baylor Alumni Association and is on the government advocacy steering committee of the Oklahoma Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. In addition, Loughridge is an inaugural Fellow with the Schusterman Fellows Program, a pilot project for improving low¡performing schools, and teaches Sunday School at First Baptist Church of Tulsa. He is married to the former Tricia Turman, also a 1995 Baylor graduate.